Police spending priorities

I might have missed that Warwickshire Police held a Gypsy Culture Day at the force HQ this weekend if a resident hadn't drawn it to my attention. I have learnt that the event was arranged following Government encouragement to engage with the Gypsy and Traveller community. It links in with the thrust of policy from the Government towards this group which includes making provision for transit sites within the planning process.If the objective was to achieve better understanding between the Police and this community, the opportunity might have been taken to ensure that those attending the event were aware of all laws, rules and regulations that are in place rather than providing face painting and a bouncy castle. Perhaps it would be better if the Police were sometimes to appreciate how this kind of event, and the expenditure that goes with it, is viewed by the rest of the community.

What a game!

We had a gang round to watch the British & Irish Lions second test against South Africa. Right up til the last minute we thought we would hang on for a win or at least a draw to keep the series alive. However, as a Rugby enthusiast who has encouraged my sons and other people's sons to take up the game, I was horrified by the eye gouging picked up by the TV camera and seen clearly by the Touch Judge. Schalk Berger should have received a red card rather than yellow and a bigger ban than the eight weeks we have heard about today. The Lions fought superbly and there was no greater presence on the field than the oldest player, Simon Shaw. Despite having lost the series no one will stop me watching this coming Saturday!

Rugby Radio Station Design Enqiry

I have spent the past two days at the design enquiry considering ideas for development of the mast site. This is a pre planning application workshop with interested parties coming together to consider what's best both for the site and the area as a whole. I was impresseed by the open and inclusive approach which is being led by the landowner and its development partner and consultants. The mast site is a massive development to the east of Rugby plannned to take 20 years which will bring 6,200 new homes and 30 hectares of employment space and will have a huge impact here. The aim is to create a sustainable and attractive extension to the urban area and ensure that the town enjoys the economic benefits this can bring. In my view the key to the success of this project is all about transport links to the town centre, making sure that the new spending power stays in Rugby but without clogging up existing road links and affecting the quaility of life of existing residents. It's fair to say that Rugby doesn't want new development on this scale. Government policy through the Regional Spatial Strategy has imposed it and we are left with no alternative, so the challenge now is to ensure that Rugby gets the best possible development which will be an asset to the town. From the process I saw at the Design Enquiry, it seems that collectively we are seing the best chance of achieving that. There is a useful website for people who want to find out more and follow progress at http://www.radiostationvision.com/the-site and there is also an opportunity for local people to register to vist the design enquiry this weekend to see for themselves. Councillors Lawrence and Sewell are looking at part of the exhibition, itself taking place on the site in a transmitter hall which will be retained and has many opportunities for use as new public building.

Now for change

Hilary Benn says on Question Time that his department will need to cut it's budget and make tough spending choices, and the Government is launching a new policy blueprint of reducing the number of targets and giving patients, parents and citizens more control over local services. Sounds as though we are winning the argument.

Rugby's New Mayor

Our new Mayor, Councillor Kam Kaur, opened the fete on Hillmorton village green at the weekend. Kam and I were both first elected to Rugby Borough Council in 2002 and went to the same induction courses learning together as we went along. I was delighted when I learnt that Kam wouuld be the Borough's Mayor for the current year; she is a really effective Councillor and will be a superb Mayor.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

In Rwanda I will be joining the team teaching Rwandan teachers English for them to teach both language and their own subject in English. Yesterday I went on a full day's crash couse to learn the principles with a variety of exercise and finishing up with teaching practice. There's a lot more to it than I expected and I an sure we will be doing a great deal of improvising & learning on the job when we get there. I shall start collecting props and ideas straight away & I'm sure that my daughter, Sara who is 11 will give me some starters. The course tutor handed us a copy of the English Language Gazette at the end which includes an article about Rwanda's rejection of French in favour of English as it's second language with a quote from Trade and Industry Minister, Vincent Karega, about the development of English as the backbone for growth and development in the region.

Wolvey Village Open Day

Wolvey is a village I know fairly well as it is close to my parent's home at Shilton. On Saturday their village open day took place which was part fete and a opportunity to visit the many active organisations in the village. My host was Councillor Adrian Warwick who showed me round, starting at the Baptist Chapel where he he is very involved. Adrian is well and truely rooted in his community and known by every one and so it was a a struggle to get round the village as so many wanted to stop and chat. With the Telegraph publishing a magazine full of expenses revelations it didn't take long for a conversation to get round to that.

Rwanda 2009

They say few people visit Africa only once and that's true for me as I will be again joining the Conservative Partys team in Rwanda this summer. Last year I worked on a project supporting small businesses and this year I will be joning two. The first will be teaching English to primary school teachers and the second is a new project for 2009 providing mentoring support for young genocide survivors who are reaching the age where they are applying for University places and for jobs. I hope to bring to use my experience as a buisiness owner having assessed many cvs and applications and as a dad with my own children having gone through this process. Last week we met with David Russell of SURF, the UK based Fund supporting survivors, to get our early ideas together.

General Election Countdown

We've added a countdown timer to the front page of the website, currently showing 351 days to the General Election. With Brown having been saved by the Parliamentary Labour Party last Monday, there is now more certainty about the likely election date. For candidates like me who have been in place for two and a half years it has been often difficult trying to make sure both personal arrangements and a campaign plan are ready at any time. Its often been impossible to make a long term arrangement. Having sold my business over a year ago if I had known that there wouldn't be an election during that year, there are many things I would have done & in particular more travelling. So at a selfish & personal level there's a lot to be said for fixed term Parliaments, although the constitutional change and abilty to deal with a "lame duck" Government make me a little uneasy about the idea. We've included a question about views on this and other aspects of how Britain is governed in our current survey; let me know what you think!

Football shirts continued

Now that the local & Euro elections are over and it seems for the time being at least that there will not be an early General Election, it's back to some of the things I was working on beforehand.
The Conservatives are again putting a team together to work in Rwanda and I am looking forward to joining them once again. I still have a number of shirts which didn't make the consignment that I sent over earlier this year & so I will take them with me. I have also issued a fresh appeal which has been taken up by Avon Valley School. Today I visited the school where I met up with Head, Don O'Neill who I went to school with, playing some Rugby together there before joining up in the back row of the Old Laurentian 2nd team some time in the late 1990s.

The Business of Government

If the Chief Executive of a business suffered a halving of market share accompanied by the resignation of five key managers, you might expect the shareholders to take decisive action over the future of that Executive. Perhaps it's just that politics doesn't work like that.

Rugby's Euro Result

This was again pretty satisfactory from our point of view, taking 32% of the vote compared to 15% for Labour and 13% for the Lib Dems. However, the main beneficiary of the protest vote here was UKIP with more than either Labour or the Lib Dems at 20%. In the Council election the protest vote went to the Green Party, picking up 12% whereas in the Euros they achieved 7%. In addition to a protest, the UKIP vote showed increasing scepticism about Europe and its institutions generally. This strengthening view makes the re-alignment of Party Groupings in the European Parliament more urgent. You can expect to hear more about this is coming weeks and months as we Conservatives link up with others who have a more independent view of how the EU should work.

Election results

Excellent results from Friday's count of voting in the Warwickshire County Council election. Our best hope was to win four seats from Labour and we did exactly that. We fully expected to win in Admirals Ward where Peter Butlin has been a Borough Councillor for five years and is well-known. We knew that there was a good chance in Lawford & New Bilton where we lost a by-election a year ago by just one vote and since then Claire Watson has continued to work hard. We thought that it might be more difficult to win in Brownsover, but a combination of the work that Carolyn Robbins has been doing there over many years, the effort during the election campaign by her and Helen Walton and the move against Labour were enough to secure a victory for both of our candidates here. All four new councillors will make an impact in Warwick. In other wards we increased majorities, taking 42% of the total vote. The Lib Dems on 21% took a larger proportion than Labour. I think it is safe to say we are looking forward to the General Election whenever it may be!

Euro Campaign

With the furore over MP's expenses the election to the European Parliament has been less prominent than it should be. Our call for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty serious and deserves to be heard more widely. Yesterday two of our Euro candidates, Malcolm Harbour and Mark Spelman were with us in Rugby to put their case. We visited Brownsover ward, where things are looking very hopeful for our County Council candidates, Helen Walton and Carolyn Robbins before walking through the town centre where plenty of people wanted to talk to us. The Euro candidate's battlebus certainly made an impact with many saying to us how good it was to see a strong Conservative presence.